So on August 16th I left Seattle and headed towards Colorado. My car was filled with everything I thought I needed to live. The plan was to stop in Salt Lake City for a few days to visit a friend then move on to Cortez, CO to visit Osprey Packs, then Durango and finally Carbonale, CO.

I broke the drive up with a few rounds of disc gold in Washington and Idaho.

Score Card

In Salt Lake I got caught up with an old friend. He took me right out into the mountains on my first morning there. We hiked up to Catherine Pass and then up to Sunset Peak which are near the Brighton and Alta ski resorts. The hike up to 10,600′ wasn’t bad, it was the run down that got me, or should I say my thighs.

Me on top of Sunset Peak.

The following day my thighs got no rest as we hiked up to Dog Lake on the Big Water Trail off Upper Millcreek Road a few canyons over from Big Cottonwood the day before.

We saw this guy on the way up.

We were treated to this sunset on the run down.

I left Salt Lake and headed towards Moab, UT. Just before reaching Moab I stopped at both Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. Both were amazing! Canyonlands is like a miniature version of the Grand Canyon. I didn’t see much of Arches due to fading light and impending darkness but witnessing what I did was pretty cool.

Shaffer Canyon

Dirt road climbing out of Shaffer Canyon.

Seeing those dirt roads in the canyon made me which I had a dual sport motorcycle to explore them. I did see a few people exploring them and it made me jealous.

Balance Rock -Arches NP

Double Arch – Arches NP

The next day after spending the night in Moab I rode the Bar-M trails just north of town. After 3+ miles of slick rock I was too sure I wanted to buy the farm as they say. I’m still thinking mountain bikes were made for dirt. The trails at Bar-M are really cool and with lots of small loops it’s easy to do as much or as little as you want.

Self portrait on the North 40 Trail.

Bessy lying down on the job.

Self portrait on Deadmans Ridge.

I left Moab and headed for Durango. I stopped in Cortez briefly on the way and checked out town. Not much was going in Cortez. It’s pretty much a farming area. Since I have been in Durango (DGO), I have ridden Phil’s World, an epic mountain bike spot just outside Cortez; rode the Texas Valley Loop on my road bike, which was almost half dirt, and I rode the Horse Gulch Trails just outside of town on the mountain bike. All of the riding has be awesome!

So far I have to say DGO is pretty great. Town does close kinda early for my taste but that’s the city in me talking. The feel is much different from when I came here last november.

The start of Rib Cage at Phil’s World.

This is the meadow at the Horse Gulch Trails. We climbed over the left shoulder of the mountain in the middle.

Cheat sheet so not to get lost when I used cell service and have no Google maps.

I saw this little bugger in the park in downtown.

Today I leave for Carbondale with stops along the way yet to be determined. For those who might be wondering about the stomach, it was better until about Wednesday and has been off and on since.

Keep an eye on the Spot map on the right side so you can follow along until the next update. You can also see more pictures of the above locations at Flickr.

Scatman

Get out there!

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